03 Jan Businesses Should Not Have to Regulate Vaccines
I don’t have a problem with the COVID-19 vaccine. In fact, I don’t have a problem with the United States federal government requiring its citizens to get vaccinated. What I do take issue with is requiring business owners to once again be the avenue the government uses to enforce its laws.
I understand this is a controversial topic, though I confess I am still unclear as to why receiving a vaccine to stop the spread of a global pandemic became a political issue. It was a republican administration that led the charge to creating a vaccine in record time and it has been a democratic administration that has rolled out the vaccine. This might be a newsflash to some, but members of both parties, including the current and former President, received the vaccine.
All that to say, I am fully vaccinated and I recently received the booster shot. You want my opinion? Get vaccinated.
But should your employer be the one to implement a vaccine mandate? No. Business owners have enough on their plate to worry about today, without the added load of becoming the vaccine czar.
But should your employer be the one to implement a vaccine mandate? No. Business owners have enough on their plate to worry about today, without the added load of becoming the vaccine czar. We already ask employers to collect taxes for the government and provide healthcare to working Americans, do we really need them to make sure their employees get a vaccine?
Right now, business leaders are trying to survive inflation, labor market shortages, and supply chain issues. I want employers focusing on how to keep their staff employed, not taking time away from work to ask team members if they have been vaccinated or tested. And what will be the consequences if an employee refuses to get vaccinated or tested? Will you have to release them? How does that help small business owners in an already tough labor market?
Will the supply chain issue resolve itself if more and more workers don’t show up because of a vaccine mandate?
The government requiring its citizens to get a vaccine is nothing new. Historically this has happened before in our nation’s history. The greatest example is the elimination of Polio in the 1970s. From a legal standpoint, the Supreme Court ruled that mandatory vaccinations were constitutional in 1905. Today you have to get certain shots when you travel to different parts of the world to be issued a visa. We require the same to enter America.
What’s new is requiring businesses to be the enforcer of the vaccines. Right now, the courts are fighting over whether this method is legal, which only leaves business owners in limbo on what will be required in the new year.
There are better ways. Congress could require citizens to prove they have been vaccinated to file their income taxes. A penalty or tax could be implemented for citizens who refuse to get vaccinated. Maybe that money could be used to help offset the cost of fighting the pandemic.
I am not a congressperson; my point is there are other ways to implement if the Federal Government wants to make the vaccine a requirement. But let’s stop asking the business owner to be the enforcer of laws in America. Let’s create an environment that encourages growth in the labor market. We need the private sector focused on fixing the supply chain issue and providing good paying jobs, not mandating vaccines.
Scott Miller is the CEO of Centerpost Media, host of the Create. Build. Manage. Show (seen on BizTV, heard on BizTalkRadio, and available wherever you listen to podcasts,) and a member of the Forbes Agency Council, Entrepreneur Leadership Network, and Dallas Business Journal Leadership Trust. You can find Scott on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter via “@scottmillerceo” or on LinkedIn via “@scottmillermedia.” Centerpost Media is a content marketing agency with a vision to help every business they encounter with their media needs by providing outstanding quality, service and value. Centerpost Media is the parent company to BizTV, BizTalkRadio, BizTalkPodcasts and Bizvod.